Archive for October, 2017

SYFY and Universal Cable Productions (UCP) today announced the third installment of Channel Zero will be titled Butcher’s Block and will air in early 2018. Creator, Nick Antosca will return as executive producer, showrunner and writer for the third installment alongside executive producer Max Landis with UCP as the studio. Arkasha Stevenson will direct. The second installment of the series, Channel Zero: No End House, will finale on SYFY tonight, Wednesday, October 25th at 10/9c.

Inspired by Kerry Hammond’s “Search and Rescue Woods” Creepypasta tale, Channel Zero: Butcher’s Block tells the story of a young woman named Alice (Olivia Luccardi, It Follows) who moves to a new city and learns about a series of disappearances that may be connected to a baffling rumor about mysterious staircases in the city’s worst neighborhoods. With help from her sister, they discover that something is preying on the city’s residents.

Cast includes:

Olivia Luccardi (It Follows) stars as Alice Woods, an idealistic young woman who devotes her life to helping the less fortunate, including her schizophrenic sister. But behind a facade of composure, Alice’s struggles with family, money and her own personal health are threatening to push her over the edge.

Holland Roden (Teen Wolf) as Zoe Woods, Alice’s older sister – a sharp, tough young woman whose struggles with mental illness have worn her down over the years. She hates that her younger sister has to take care of her and she’d give anything to go back to the way things used to be.

Rutger Hauer (Blade Runner) as Joseph Peach, a 1950s meatpacking magnate who grew increasingly reclusive and then disappeared after his beloved daughters were murdered.

Brandon Scott (Wreck-It Ralph) as Officer Luke Vanczyk, a young but already jaded cop, living in the shadow of his father, the Chief of Police. Luke’s world-weary exterior hides a fierce commitment to justice, and a deep love for his troubled community.

Krisha Fairchild (Krisha) as Louise Lispector, a retired journalist who has lived in Garrett, Michigan her whole life. Now she spends her days doing taxidermy and working on her personal project: A book about a pattern of disappearances in the city’s worst neighborhood. But when she rents out part of her house to Alice and Zoe Woods, she finds herself in danger from the people behind the disappearances.

To view all episodes of the series’ second installment, Channel Zero: No End House, visit SYFY.com or rent on Amazon and Google Play.

The U.S.S. Discovery will get to fly on…CBS All Access has renewed Star Trek: Discovery for a second season. The first season so far as broken all subscription records for the streaming service, following the crew of the Starfleet ship while one crew member seeks to understand herself.

Six episodes have been released so far, with three more to go before taking a break, and the final six to be released starting in January.

Jodie Whittaker will not be flying in the TARDIS alone this coming season, of course, and now we know who will be on board with her.

Bradley Walsh (Coronation Street, Law & Order: UK), Tosin Cole (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Hollyoaks), and Mandip Gill (Hollyoaks, Doctors) will all be joining the Doctor when Whittaker takes over the role. No backgrounds were given to the characters except their names: Graham, Ryan and Yasmin, respectively.

Also joining the cast but not pictured is Sharon D. Clarke (Holby City), in an unnamed role.

Actor John Dunsworth, best known for his role as the trailer park manager Jim Lahey in the Canadian series Trailer Park Boys and my readers would remember him as Dave Teagues in Haven, passed away yesterday according to his daughter Susan.

Actor Roy Dotrice passed away peacefully today at the age of 94 in his London home surrounded by his three daughters, grandchildren and great grandson, his family confirmed in a statement.

Probably most know recently for playing Hallyne the Pyromancer in a couple episodes of Game of Thrones in 2012, his acting career spans many years on stage, small and large screen, and he won a Tony Award in 2000 for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role in A Moon for the Misbegotten, and held the Guinness World Record in 2004 for most voiced characters in an audio book for his reading of A Song of Ice and Fire. He was also awarded the Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2008.

Dotrice was no stranger to genre roles either. He was originally set to play Grand Maester Pycelle in Games of Thrones but withdrew for medical reasons (the role went to Julian Glover.) He made two memorable guest appearances in Space: 1999 as Commissioner Simmonds, which sticks in my head for the horrible death he (presumably) suffered. He also had a starring role in the Beauty and the Beast series in the 80s. He had other guest appearances in Babylon 5, Hercules: The Legendary Journeys (as Zeus, no less!), Earth 2, and Sliders among many, many roles. He also had a starring role in one of my favorite Olympics-based movies as the Russian skating coach Anton Pamchenko in The Cutting Edge.

Dotrice was married to his wife, actress Kay Dotrice, for just short of 60 years when she passed away in 2007. His three daughters were also actresses – Michele Dotrice (Some Mothers Do ‘Ave ‘Em), Karen Dotrice (best known as the young Jane Banks in Mary Poppins), and Yvette Dotrice (Crossroads).

Stargate Command, the new online home for all things Stargate, announced that Ellie Gall (A Midsummer’s Nightmare) will take on the starring role of the young Catherine Langford in the upcoming event seriesStargate Origins.

Those familiar with the franchise will remember that Langford was present with her parents when the Stargate was unearthed in Egypt and spent her life trying to decipher it and make it work, which she was unable to do until helped by Daniel Jackson (James Spader in the film, Michael Shanks in Stargate SG-1). The series will follow her as she attempts to unlock the secrets of the Stargate. I suspect there may be some canon-bending involved…

Connor Trinneer (Star Trek: Enterprise), who had a recurring role in Stargate Atlantis, will return to the franchise to play Catherine’s father, Professor Paul Langford.